Comedian and actor Marc Maron has issued a statement sharing his grief following the sudden death of his girlfriend, acclaimed director Lynn Shelton. Shelton, 54, died Friday from a previously undisclosed blood disorder.
Maron — whose Netflix show, Glow, was among Shelton’s many directing credits — said his partner had been “ill” for a week in a statement to IndieWire. He also clarified that her death was not connected to COVID-19.
“I have some awful news,” the 56-year-old WTF with Marc Maron podcast host wrote. “Lynn passed away last night. She collapsed yesterday morning after having been ill for a week. There was a previously unknown, underlying condition. It was not COVID-19. The doctors could not save her. They tried. Hard.”
Maron, who also starred in Shelton’s 2019 film Sword of Trust, described himself as “leveled, heartbroken and in complete shock” over the loss, hailing his late girlfriend as a “beautiful, kind, loving, charismatic artist” with whom he was “starting a life.”
“I loved her very much as I know many of you did as well,” he continued. “It’s devastating. I am leveled, heartbroken and in complete shock and don’t really know how to move forward in this moment. I needed you all to know. I don’t know some of you. Some I do. I’m just trying to let the people who were important to her know.
“She was a beautiful, kind, loving, charismatic artist. Her spirit was pure joy. She made me happy. I made her happy. We were happy. I made her laugh all the time. We laughed a lot. We were starting a life together. I really can’t believe what is happening. This is a horrendous, sad loss.”
The couple had discussed their plans for another film collaboration in an IndieWire interview on May 7, just a week before Shelton’s death.
Shelton — a mother of one whose directing credits also include episodes of Mad Men, New Girl, The Morning Show and the recently released Little Fires Everywhere, as well as indie films like Humpday, Touchy Feely and Your Sister’s Sister — was also mourned in posts from celebrity collaborators and admirers like Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington, Mark Duplass and Mindy Kaling.
